Why do Catholics “go to rosaries” when someone dies?

Full Question

I have heard of Catholics “going to rosaries” for people who have died. Could you tell me what is meant by this?

Answer

When a Catholic dies, his friends and family often gather together to pray the rosary for the repose of his soul. Saying that one is “going to a rosary” is a shorthand way of saying that someone is gathering with other people in order to pray a rosary together.

why do you need your mother, to ask your father, if you can stay out till 11:00pm once in a while? because your chances are better of getting what you want…if mary asks her son, do you think he would tell his mother no.? I don’t think so.

Jesus Love her mother so much that He can’t say no to her. Mother Mary is the Mother of the Universal Church and Queen of Heaven, you can of course pray straight to Jesus but his mother’s intercession is very powerful. That is what we believe and hope other people will respect it as we respect others religion.

Renji…if you disrespect Jesus mother what can you expect from disrespecting yours …and if you don’t believe in Catholicism don’t put your big nose in the page …God bless you ignorant take some spelling classes instead !

The Catholic Church (religion) is the true church established by Jesus Christ, before He ascended into heaven.
All the others were started by man who did not agree with the teachings & Commandments of God. If you think the catholic religion is a fake, you know nothing about it.

Hi Renji, please be kind, you seem to know Catholicism as a fake religion. Fine, but how did you know it is fake, did you ever study them or you were a former Catholic and was baptized by your parents when you were still an infant? Please tell us what was your reason so could help you. One lost soul and turn back to God is a good reason to rejoice and a need for a big celebration. Anyway, please know that the Catholic Church has divine characteristics known by its four distinctive marks, namely; the church is One, Holy, Catholic or Universal and Apostolic that other religions or the over 36,000 existing denominations cannot claim them. Only the Catholic Church existed in every Centuries starting from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc, 20th, 21st the current Century and is divinely preserved and guided by the Holy Spirit of God to be free from error and shall exist till the end of age according to Jesus promise as being Him is the Head and the Church His mystical body. Anyway, about praying the rosary especially for the dead, is our full communion in Christ and when you open up your bible, Jesus Christ have shared
his divine powers to all His members or the faithful so they participate in the ministry of Jesus on earth while He was on earth and in Heaven on His glorified body. Mary, due to especial favor as mother of God the ministry of His Son, Jesus Christ is inseparable, her soul was magnified by the Lord, and all generation shall call her blessed. So Mary can most effectively intercede as the closest person to his Son Jesus Christ and prayers of all who died in the friendship of God. Our prayers to Mary is not worship but honoring or venerating her as her stature as mother of Jesus as God or mother of God. Those who attack Catholics as worshiping Mary, believed themselves they knew the heart of man, like god when these people see someone praying and kneeling in front of Mary. Remember that praying does not mean worship in the dictionary. Renji we can still help you with your predicaments.

Forgive them for they do not know what they say or do. Our lord is mentioned in all holy books ,Bagvad Geeta, Holy Koran ,Top orthodox religious people could not find real God , Except the Savior JESUS

Renji.? What would you feel if someone insults your Mother..? Because Jesus Christ has a Mother too..! I guess, you would exactly felt really anger. How much more our Lord Jesus Christ noticed you in doing the same thing to his Mother..!

We humbly respect and acknowledge the importance of Mary in the redemption of our sins. Of all women, God chosed Mary to be the mother of Jesus here on earth, to play a very important role in God’ s plan of salvation. Her obedience to God’s plan is an example of selflessness and love of God. God loves her so much that He brought her to heaven body and soul as a reward for her obedience. Do you think God will not hear her cry whenever we ask her for favors in prayer?

It is the same as saying as us repeating I love you or I’m sorry to our lover ones. When we pray, we are repeating powerful words every time you pray which gives the devil a headache everytime he hears it

When you say the Rosary repeating the “Hail Mary ” we are praising Mother Mary , “Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is thee, blessed are thou amongst women and bless is the fruit of thy womb Jesus”, because she was chosen by our God the Father to be the Mother of Our Savior Lord Jesus Christ. And asking help from her to pray and intercedes for us in the “Holy Mary” , “Holy Mary, Mother of God, PRAY FOR US , sinners , now and at the hour of our death, Amen”. Mother Mary will be with us on the time of our death, remember the 15 promises our Mother Mary when you say the Rosary?

Dear curious Unknown, firstly, repetitious prayers is not unbiblical, read Matthew 26:36-56, Jesus repeated prayers in three times at Gethsemane. Secondly, our repeated praises to Many is worth doing even in million times, still doesn’t even suffice a good conscience in giving sincere thanks to Mary on account of bringing Jesus to the world for salvation of souls for all humanity. So it is justified to say Hail Mary many, many times in praying the rosary.

A friend of mine, whose wife was very ill and in hospice, had called the family together as it looked like she was declining and wouldn’t be around too much longer. I had asked if anyone had called a priest and another one of my friends told me that they weren’t ‘too keen’ on religion. I didn’t say anything but felt very concerned. I could not go over there as I had to watch my grand daughter that day. Later that night, I was alone, watching t.v. when out of the blue a strong, very strong something told me that I needed to pray the rosary for her and it felt very urgent. So I started praying the rosary. I also noted the time; it was 9:00 PM. The next day I got the news that a priest had, in fact, been summoned to their house and she was given last rites, also, that she had died at 9:00 PM.

Holy Rosary – Means “Crown of Roses” or “Garland of Roses”. A spiritual bouquet offered to honor (not worship) the Mother of GOD.
Rosary probably began as early as 2nd century when the laity imitate the Liturgy of the Hours of monks which they prayed the 150 Psalms daily. The laity, many of whom can not read, substituted the 50, or even 150 Hail Mary instead of Psalms.
Another clear historical tradition of Rosary is through St. Dominic died in 1221. It was believed that Virgin Mary appeared to him, telling to preach it publicly to destroy the heresies, to convert sinners, to obtain peace, to destroy evil spirits and its works.
Beads are used in praying the Rosary;
1st- to maintain the accurate counts of Hail Mary per decade and to maintain the proper meditation.
2nd- beads represent the 10 most significant event of our Lord Jesus and Holy Mary’s life here on earth on every decade or mystery.
3rd- “beads” derived from an old English word for prayers (Bede) and to request (bidan or bid)
As a Catholic have you encountered the anti Christ’s accusations about the repetitions of praying (Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be) the Rosary?
I. The Apostle‘s Creed
1. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth.
“Genesis 1-2”
2. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord.
“John 1:14; Matthew 1:21; Acts 4:12; Mark 1:11”
3. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary.
“Luke 1:35”
4. He suffered under Pontious Pilate, was Crucified, Died and was Buried.
“Matthew 26:36- Matthew 27:1-50”
5. He descended into hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead.
“1 Peter 3:18-19; Matthew 28:6; John 20: 27-29”
6. He ascended into Heaven and is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father Almighty.
“Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:11; Romans 8:34”
7. He will come to Judge the Living and the Dead.
“Matt. 25:31-36”
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit
“Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:4”
9. I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints.
“Matt. 16:18; Rev. 5:7”
10. I believe in the forgiveness of sins.
“Matt. 1:21; John 20:21-23; Matt. 6:12”
11. I believe in the Resurrection of the Body.
“1 Cor. 15:20”
12. I believe in life everlasting.
“Rev. 21-22:1-17”
In Matthew 6:7 Lord Jesus said
“In your prayers do not babble as pagans do”
II. The Lord’s Prayer (Our Father)
In Matthew 6:9-13 He taught
“Our Father in heaven,
may Your name be held holy,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test,
but save us from the evil one.”
We used the verse Matthew 6:7 to prove that we as Catholics do not prohibit GOD’s commandment in praying. That is one of their favorite verse to confuse and attack Catholicism.
We pray the Lord’s prayer repeatedly because,
First, it was the prayer that our Lord Jesus, himself taught unto us.
Second, it was Biblical written.
Third, because it is directly from Christ it is the most powerful prayer of all.
And it shows the truth and humility (remember Satan is most afraid on humbleness and truth for he is the root of all lies and boastfulness).
III. The Hail Mary
Luke 1:28
“Rejoice, so highly favored! The Lord is with you”
The translation “Rejoice” may be preferred “Hail” or “Ave” a greet with great salutation.
“So highly favored one” as to become the Mother of Messiah, directly Angel Gabriel told so, “the Lord is with you”.
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.”
Luke 1:42
She gave a loud cry and said
“Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”
It was St. Elizabeth the wife of Zechariah and mother of St. John the Baptist that greeted Virgin Mary with great honor. Lord Jesus is the fruit of Virgin Mary’s womb.
“Blessed are you among women and and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus.”
Luke 1:43
“Why should I be honored with a visit from the mother of my Lord?”
St. Elizabeth being inspired by Holy Spirit proclaimed that the fruit of Virgin Mary’s womb is our Lord, God and Savior.
“Holy Mary mother of God.”
James 5:16
“Pray for one another, and this will cure you; the heartfelt prayer of a good man works very powerfully.”
Revelation 8:4
“And so from the angel’s hand the smoke of the incense went up in the presence of God and with it the prayers of the saints.
In those two verses, biblically it tells that the prayer of God’s elects (Virgin Mary is one of them) is very powerful. Since we are sinners we need the intercession through prayers of those Holy especially Virgin Mary.
“Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
IV. The Glory Be
John 16:13-15
“But when the Spirit of truth comes
he will lead you to the complete truth,
since he will not speaking as from himself
but will say only what he has learnt;
and he will tell you of the things to come.
He will glorify me,
since all he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.
Everything the Father has is mine;
that is why I said:
All he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.”
This pertains to the new order of things that is to result from Christ’s death and resurrection. This is also refers to the authority of Catholic Church guided by Holy Spirit. By revealing the hidden depths of mystery of Lord Jesus, the Spirit makes His glory known. Lord Jesus, in His turn, manifests the glory of the Father from whom comes everything He possesses. The Father is the source of the revelation communicated by the Son and brought to completion by the Holy Spirit who in this way glorifies both the Father and the Son. There are not three revelations but one.
“Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,”
John 1:1-3
“In the beginning was the Word;
the Word was with GOD
and the Word was GOD.
He was with GOD in the beginning.
Through HIM all things came to be,
not one thing had its being but through HIM.”
Revelation 22:13
“I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
In these verses it pertains that the WORD Incarnate which is Lord Jesus was with GOD the Father in the beginning. The creatures was created through HIM and through the Holy Spirit, He was conceived. HE, who, died and resurrected will come again to judge the living and the dead, and it shall be no end.”
“As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen.”
Now, in those bible passages above we notice how biblical and powerful the Holy Rosary. We understand little by little the mysteries it has been showing.
In praying the Rosary, we pray it in repetition, but we never commit anything wrong against GOD commandments as the anti Christs accusation against us, satan will do anything to destroy the Holy Rosary but he’ll never succeed.
Remember, that when we pray Holy Rosary deeply it reveals the mystery of love of our GOD and SAVIOUR for us, and satan stumbles to the depths of hell.
When we pray the Holy Rosary, we may not notice but we invoke the “truth about the mystery of our faith”, satan feels a million of strikes on his head because he is the root of all lies.
As we pray the Holy Rosary, we show humbleness and honor (not worship) to Virgin Mary that millions of angels do in heaven, satan’s fear the most.
If someone asks you;
“Is the string of beads or the Holy Rosary written in the bible?”
Answer him/her, no it isn‘t written literally but Spiritually. Because according to our LORD JESUS CHRIST;
“On this rock I will build My Church.
And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.” Matt. 16:18-19.

Hi russ, if you ask friends to pray for you, then what is wrong asking Mary, the incarnate mother of Jesus, mother of God. if you are short of knowledge the study more the words of God in the Bible, a Catholic book, so that you could avoid just anyone an antichrist. That is fatal to your soul, Russ!!

Norma,very well written.I enjoyed reading your comment,I found your words enlightening.We as Catholics are very blessed to have the understanding of the difference between worshiping and honoring.I feel it is a great love and gratefulness we have for our Blessed Mother for doing Gods Holy Will by bringing our Lord and Saviour into the world to live a human existence among us.The rosary is an offering of roses to our Blessed Mother because of our love and gratitude to Her.Mother Mary suffered greatly along with Her Son,our Lord Jesus.She stayed by His side through His entire Sorrowful Passion.As a mother,relating to the emotional anguish she endured seeing Her Beloved Son tortured and killed is heartbreaking.Even through all of that,She is able to love us sinners and desires to lead us to Her Son,our King.Yes we love and honor Her.She is our Most Blessed Mother.

rosary is a powerful tool that ever we had.. remember the 1988… when the USSR threaten nuclear war against the world.. people all over the world pray the rosary.. and it stop war then russians become democracy… its a miracle.. now its so sad that few people are praying the rosary.. we must not forget to pray the rosary.. it can bring miracle.. even the most frozen heart people can make melt.. please continue to pray..

Rosary it’s Soo powerful.there was this company in my home area,the company was producing high amount of illegal gas alcohol,where the young men,women got addicted and a number of them died because of consuming the alcohol.church leaders and people decided to pray the rosary..they would gather everyday six o’clock in the evening to recite the rosary each day and miraculously before the end of one month the whole company burned down by the mistake from the owne

Well well well
. I need roses to go to virgin mary.
Then i need virgin mary to go to jesus .
Then i need jesus to go to god.
Humm.
So flower is the begining of the conection between humans and god for christians
In other words..
interesting. …….

You ‘re not a Catholic are you. Its a shame because the Virgin Mary plays a very powerful part in our religion, after all she is the mother of God. I think you have your information mixed up. You should say the rosary to help you get back on track.

Yeah i believe in the power of praying the Holy Rosary i cant sleep with out praying it,,thanks God for giving me the knowledge how to recite it..and for all the blessings that i receive..praying the rosary makes your heart fell of joy, peace and happiness,whatever trials problems may come in your way Mama Mary always there to guide and protect,,so powerful and miraculously weapons against the wickedness of the devil,..God bless us and please continue to pray the Holy Rosary all the days of your life…

The ” Rosary” is in fact ” the stairway to Heaven” .it is prayed kneeling while preciously holding and saying the rosary beads of each decade . it is the most heaviest and most sacrificial form of prayer.

Is that what the bible say? I till you what is a man made.. where in the bible we pray mary? Where in the bible about rosary? Did the bible say don’t add any that not come from the the bible? Yes. Did the bible say don’t pray repeatedly? You been deceive.. read the bible.

Jesus established a Church, not a Bible. The Bible comes from the Church, The Holy Catholic Church that Jesus established. You got your bible from the Catholic Church but the protestants took out seven books. This Bible only teaching is false. The first Christians didnt even
have a bible for like 3 or 4 hundred years.

You obviously don’t practice what you preach in regards to reading the bible. Where does it say in the bible, that if it’s not in the bible cannot be true; not everything the Lord and the Apostles did was written down.

2 Thessalonians 2.15:
So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by WORD of MOUTH or by our LETTER.

Christ tells us to pray when things are good he also tells us to pray when things are bad as a convert I love my catholic faith. It is said that Christ can not denie his mother so when we pray to mother Mary for intersection and she gives it to Christ he can not denie it. We as catholic pray to saints. Mother Mary is a saint

John 14:6 says:
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me”. You don’t need Mary to get to God. If it is needful Jesus would had said it before he left the world. You have direct access to Christ when you give your life to him. The question is ‘have you given your life to him?’.

Its right to give honor to the mother of god! With her yes to angel gabriel, we are all save! Now, we are not forcing anybody who dont open their eyes and heart to catholic religion, but how could u explain the miracle of the sun in portugal witness by thousands or more?! We catholics respect other religion, so better be quite and show respect as you desire to be respected!

When you pray the rosary you’re walking through the life of Jesus holding Mary’s hand. You contemplate on all the mysteries the joyful the luminous the glorious sorrowful.. Mary teaches us how to pray and how to live she was the first evangelist she said yes to God to bear Jesus for our sins! Many miracles happen when I pray the rosary because it pleases Jesus and God therefore her intercession Is a blessing . She is Jesus is mother therefore she shared and his Joyce and suffering . She is our mother if God is our father Jesus is our brother she loves us very much !! We need to do exactly what she said it can do whatever Jesus tells,pray pray and pray

This is a very blatant contradiction of what the bible says. Our only advocate(1Jn2:1) and mediator (1Tm2:5) to God the Father is Jesus. Even Mary needs a saviour from her sinful life (Lk 1:47).

To those who pray to Mary and revere her as Holy and so on, read Rm1:21. You have taken out honor to whom its due. You have honored a person instead of God. What makes you think that praying to Mary is better than praying to Jesus? Is He not enough?

Regardless of what many believes and the cultural significance and your emotional state, if it contradicts God’s word, then it is wrong. Don’t be a Pharisee. Professing to be wise, they became fools.

I used to have a major problem with Mary – until I actually read what the bible (not my protestant friends, colleagues and church) said about her. Another thing which helped me to understand her better, rather than just speak out of sheer ignorance (which is a lot easier than looking at the actual facts – it’s amazing what you might discover) was a book from Scott Hahn, a former anti-catholic who later became a catholic, called “Hail Holy Queen”. It’s a very good book which explains much of what the bible says about her, and how she was foreshadowed in the Old Testament – in the beginning with Adam and Eve (Eve being disobedient, Mary being totally obedient), through Moses and the Ark of the Covenant which contained the Law (Mary was the Ark of the New Covenant which was Jesus – she carried Him and bore Him into the world), King Solomon and the role of his (Queen Mother) Mother at the time (she had enormous influence over the King), through to Revelations where John sees a woman appear in Heaven – right after he says he saw the ark. I think when you realise that she is more in the bible than just a couple of chapters in the New Testament – she makes a whole lot of sense when contemplating why the catholic church gives her her dues. A couple of other things that helped me regarding her (she was the final stumbling block to my entrance into the catholic church after 40+ years as a protestant) were the realisations that (a) she is Jesus’ mother, and therefore should be respected as such (in accordance with the Commandment which says to Honour our father and mother) – and on this point – I used to wrongly believe, without stopping to find out the actual truth, that catholics worshipped Mary. In fact this is blatantly untrue – catholics are strictly forbidden (according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church) to worship anyone but God alone. Mary is to be given due respect as Jesus’ mother – but is never ever to be worshipped, not by catholics or anyone else according to the catholic church – as I said, catholics are to worship God alone. I respect my friends’ mothers, and Jesus is my best friend – so how I ever thought it was okay to disrespect her I can only surmise was due to a severe case of spiritual blindness or total disrespect. (b) Jesus spent 30 years of His life with her, compared with only 3 years with His disciples. She knew Him better than any human being; (c) everything Jesus ever said is important, but everything He said during His passion and on the cross must be super-important. One of the last things He said was, looking at His disciple John, “behold your mother””. If this was something He meant as a future relationship merely between Mary and John, surely He could have discussed this privately with John, even at the Last Supper. But He didn’t. He reserved it for when He was dying and in His last moments on earth as a man. I therefore believe that He meant that His mother was, from that time on, OUR mother. Lastly, not that this will help anyone who refuses to consider Mary as anything more than an incubator to bring Jesus into the world – God chose her above every other woman that has ever existed. Surely that must say something about her – and the incredible gifts that God must have given her to be able to carry out the mission He asked of her. No half-decent parent would willingly leave their beloved child with a person who was totally unequipped for the task of raising their child – so, I believe God did things in and for Mary that befitted the role He had for her – to be a mother to His Son. In the end, she is Jesus’ mum – and for that reason, if no other, I respect her deeply. Not to mention what she had to endure as she watched Him die – innocent, yet defiled and spat upon, degraded, defiled and yet totally without blame – for us, a bunch of sinners. For her part in God’s plan, I am grateful. And I love her.

I was converted to Christian as a Catholic 38 years ago. God has blessed us lot in my life till date. I am really proud of being a Catholic and follow it’s teaching. We respect Mother Mary and the sacrifice of all saints.